Steve King: Chamber of Commerce for 'cheap labor at any cost'

Politico's Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman report the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is "gearing up to challenge some House Republicans in primary elections" after "many of [the Chamber's] legislative priorities -- immigration reform, the renewal of the Export-Import Bank and a long-term highway bill -- have been held up by a clutch of conservative lawmakers in the House." It would be an unprecedented move, and even floating the idea suggests how determined the Chamber's national leadership is to fight for more immigrant labor and taxpayer-paid subsidies for business.

Chamber officials have not named any specific lawmakers they would like to take out, but if there ever is a list of targets, it would likely include the name of Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King, perhaps the most resolute opponent of comprehensive immigration reform in the House. (He's also against Ex-Im.) On Saturday, I asked King about the possibility the Chamber will challenge Republican incumbents who aren't on board with the business group's agenda.

"A handful of powerful interests in the U.S. Chamber demand cheap labor at any cost -- as long as they are not paying the cost," King responded via email. "This [Politico] article reads like a policy of amnesty or bust. Amnesty begets anarchy."

"This isn't free enterprise," King continued. "They want to spend other people's money, and we know what Lady Thatcher said about those who spend other people's money."